Harley-Davidson will restore bike washed up in Canada from Japanese tsunami

The Harley inside its storage container, which washed up in British Columbia recently. (AP Photo/CBC-Peter Mark, The Canadian Press)

The story of a Japanese tsunami victim whose motorcycle washed up halfway around the world now has a double happy ending.

Harley-Davidson says it will restore the rust-encrusted bike found on a beach on Graham Island, British Columbia, and send it back to Japan.

The motorcycle was linked to 29-year-old Ikuo Yokoyama through its license plates. Yokoyama told Japanase TV he lost three family members in the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. He kept the motorcycle in a storage container behind his house, and it was swept away in the tsunami.

That storage container was found by Canadian Peter Mark on April 18 in B.C. It’s one of the largest discoveries so far of debris from the tsunami, and more is expected to hit West Coast shores in the coming months.

Yokoyama has appeared on TV with Mark but says he hopes to thank the Canadian personally for the discovery.